Retention from day one!

AFTER successfully selecting 20 freshers with the perfect combination of education, attitude and communication skills, Srinivasan Mangipudi as the head of HR knew that his job had just begun. He firmly believed that one never got a second chance to make the first impression!

Just as the company would observe the selected candidates, he was aware that the candidate too would be alert and evaluating the company to decide whether it deserved the best years of his life.

Srinivasan was also aware that bigger companies might try to lure these candidates away with better offers.

In order to avoid losing these potential long-term employees he made sure that right from the first point of contact between the company and the candidate, the candidate was welcomed into the company and never felt out of place.

Offer letter

The formal offer letter was an important written correspondence from the company to the candidate.

* He made sure that the language was inviting and mentioned the exact date of joining.

* Apart from this he also made sure that all his contact numbers were included in the letter. So that incase the candidate needed any kind of clarification then he could contact him directly instead of going through the board lines

* He also included a separate sheet describing the complete salary break up of the candidate

* Apart from all these essential information, he also made sure that a diagram of the location of the company highlighting the popular landmarks, bus routes, approximate charges by auto and taxi, was included along with the offer letter.

Filing away!* He carefully filed away each accepted offer letter in separate files and made sure that it was preceded by the latest resume of the candidates and their photographs

* Later he also included other important personal details like blood group, allergies, eye power, etc., to be prepared for emergencies.

Day 1

He wanted each and every recruit to feel at home in the company and dispel the initial feeling of awkwardness. In order to achieve this he made sure:

* Each candidate's identity card with all the relevant information was ready and waiting for them at the reception on their first day in the company. So that they needn't depend on others to get security clearance to open doors

* That each new entrant had a separate cubicle or at least a workstation ready with the computer terminal hooked up and all the necessary stationery

* The log in and password for each was ready so that they could access the company networks from day one

* A list of extension numbers, email ids of various departments was also provided at their workstation as a ready reckoner

Introduction

* As the head of HR he addressed the new recruits and presented an audio-visual programme introducing the history of the company, the top management and clearly outlining the goals, plans for the future, vision and mission statement

This gave the new entrants a clear picture of the foundation of the company, where it was heading and most importantly their part in the whole scheme of things and their potential to grow and enhance their career with the organisation.

Demystifying HR

* He also made sure that he enumerated the various HR policies and processes (right from the format of the claims form, to the evaluation process) of the company in simple language to the new recruits

* The HR manual was also made available on the Intranet for easy access

To this Head HR, retention was not a last ditch strategy to hold back a dissatisfied employee. Retention began right from the time the company selected the candidate. The candidate is not just a passive employee, but is constantly observing what the company has invested in him in terms of effort and resources not only to motivate him to work efficiently but also to imbue in him a feeling of belonging.

Srinivasan was wise enough to realise that to retain an employee the HR needn't mouth exalted strategies but instead exercise plain common sense...Shouldn't you?

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

maalini.mds@careercommunity.co.in